Class 22000

Ce he sin

Took my first rail trip in Ireland for years on one of these on Saturday, Mallow to Tralee.

The fare pricing seems odd. If I had booked online on the day of travel it would have cost me something like €60 whereas the regular fare would have been €26. In the event I just bought a ticket from the machine at the station for only €22 and then wondered why nobody was sitting at the seats which had their names on display above. I guess they just sit anywhere when traffic is light.

Anyway, I found the train satisfactory enough - quiet and comfortable with decent wifi. It did seem to have been designed for something a bit more ambitious than a single line with a 100 kmh or so limit though. Once you get going it hangs on to first gear until about 90 kmh and then only gets to experience the wonders of second for at most a couple of minutes until it has to slow again for a station or level crossing. I'm sure third gear works, but you're never going to get there on that line!

goingnowhere

Well no gears at all really, hydraulic gearbox until 56mph and then direct drive

Ce he sin

It has (if Wiki is to believed) a three speed Voith 312 hydrodynamic gearbox per car with a torque converter for first gear and a fluid coupling for each of the other two. Each of these has a gear train associated with it. You start by filling the torque converter giving you first gear then at the appointed speed the converter is drained and the second gear fluid coupling filled. If and when you reach the appointed speed for third the second gear coupling drains and the next one fills.
The slower trains they use for the Cork Cobh run have the same arrangement but because their maximum speed is so low you can hear second and third engaging before you hit the speed limit.